Apparently No One Wants Any DC Superhero Figures, Ever

Mattel kinda sorta announced that not only are they canceling their 4-inch and 6-inch Young Justice toylines, but they are also canceling whatever the current 6-inch DC Superheroes line is — the DC All-Stars shown above, I think? — after one wave. That means there will be effectively no DC comic superhero toys in toy stores in 2013, although Mattel will of course have some new ones available on Matty Collector for you to purchase for $20 or more dollars, plus $9 shipping, even though it will still take 17 full days to get to you (seriously, I paid $8.70 s&h and my last MOTUC figure shipped on March 21st, and it arrived last Saturday on April 5th. Fan-fucking-tastic).

Now, we can blame Mattel for terrible quality control and retail distribution — and we totally should, especially for the horrible YJ toys — but let’s also admit it’s also not entirely Mattel’s fault. As TR contributor Jason Clarke rightfully points out on his blog, “more collectors in the 18-49 segment want a Constrictor or U.S. Agent than any of the Metal Men.” I’m not 100% why that’s true — you can’t tell me that more people know/like the Marvel villain Constrictor than the Metal Men — but sure as hell more people will buy some pretty low-tier Marvel characters, but will pass up Blackest Night/Brightest Day variants of reasonably well-known/popular DC superheroes. And while that’s partly a Hasbro versus Mattel thing, I think it’s more a Marvel vs. DC thing. For all their New 52 and Geoff Johns and underpantsless Supermans, DC still hasn’t managed to get any more people to give a fuck about The Atom, or even about Red Robin (a modern character and part of the Bat-family! ) and that translates directly into toy sales. Say whatever you want about whose comics are outselling whose, but when it comes to cultural awareness and the toy aisle, Marvel is solidly in first place.